the girl who obsessively loves everything.

Tag: flash fiction

Happy FlashFic Wednesday, all! Thanks for tolerating my hiatus! I figured this would be the perfect day to pop back in with a little writing. As always, this is an exercise in writing short pieces, but mine happen to continue a single narrative. You can find parts one & two here. Constructive feedback is always welcome!

Sienna just stared at him. What do you even do in a situation like this? There certainly had to be a way to break this awkward silence, but first she needed to break the connection. Reluctantly, she dropped Luke’s hand back to his knee and put some distance between the two of them by standing & pressing herself into the wall, those currents still pulsing through her body as if they had become an integral part of her bloodstream.

The expression on Luke’s face had not changed. He stared up at her with equal parts confusion and awe plastered all over his face, as well as just a hint of desire. He wanted that feeling back, and so did she. Also, she needed to get that glass out of his hand before it caused even more problems, right? Right.

Sienna slowly knelt down on the floor in front of where Luke was sitting. She reached up to grab a pair of latex gloves out of the first aid kit and put them on. Tentatively, she reached for Luke’s hand again, gently touching his skin with her fingertips through the gloves. While not nearly as effective as she had hoped, the gloves did a decent job of numbing the sensation; enough that she could keep her head clear while she set to work cleaning out his palm.

It occurred to her – as she was practically holding her breath and using every last ounce of concentration to keep her features neutral – that neither of them had spoken for a while… how long had it been? Twenty minutes? Surely longer than is socially acceptable, but Sienna could not string together a sentence right now to save her life. Instead, she merely peeked up at Luke through her lashes, more than a little pleased to find him also holding his breath and still looking dumbfounded. At least she wasn’t the only one who didn’t have a clue what to say. Or do.

She made quick work of the last few pieces of glass (to the best of her ability ignoring the magnetism and grabbed the peroxide from the kit to disinfect the small cuts. As she dampened a cotton pad, she chanced another look at him, only to find him inspecting his palm.

“You’re pretty good at this. Are you in nursing school, or something?” his eyes did not leave his hand.

“No, I, um… I have a little brother who thinks he’s Evel Knievel. I can’t count the number of times I’ve cleaned gravel out of that kid’s knees.”

Sienna fumbled with the peroxide, grateful that Luke was so entranced by his own palm that he did not notice. She reached for his hand once again, warning him, “this is going to sting.” He flinched a little, but didn’t pull away.

Once she was satisfied that the cuts were sufficiently disinfected, she wrapped up his hand & tossed the gloves in the small trashcan. “Well, you’re all patched up. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before starting a cage match in proximity to a glass coffee table?” She tried to fix him with an indifferent stare, but he just smirked as he stood up and reached for her face. Everything in Sienna’s world went technicolor.

Flash Fiction Wednesday is a monthly writing challenge, initiated by @loudlysilent, to write a piece of fiction, 600 words or less, on the first Wednesday of every month. Check out FlashFicWed on tumblr for more writing from across the web!

So, I missed last month’s Flash Fiction Wednesday, which meant I had to make an extra effort to participate this month. And also, there is no Obsessive Wednesday post for this week. Because Flash Fic. That’s why.

This month’s excerpt is a continuation of the piece I wrote in April, which you can read here. This is a really rough draft that I spent literally zero time editing, so please don’t judge too harshly. On the other hand, I would really love any constructive feedback you lovely readers might have.

“Oh my god, I’m so, so sorry! Are you ok?” she searched his face for signs of anger or embarrassment, but saw only the dumbfounded look of someone who had just been dropped into a pile of glass.

As far as Sienna could tell, Luke hadn’t felt what she had: that electricity that shot from her fingertips throughout her entire body, leaving shivers lingering on her spine and a tingle in her chest. At least, if he had felt it, he showed no signs as he staggered to his feet on his own.

“I’m fine, Ace. Now you just have more glass to dig out of my flesh,” he showed her his left hand, newly embedded with tiny pieces of glass. “Hope you have a strong stomach.”

Sienna did not, in fact, have a strong stomach. As she led Luke to the upstairs bathroom and fetched the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet, her mind swam. Between the alcohol, caffeine, adrenaline, squeamishness, and the near-literal electric shock she just sustained, it was a miracle she was even conscious right now. She took a steadying breath before looking Luke in the eye as she reached for the shard of glass still sticking out of his arm.

“You going to make it?” he asked her, apparently genuinely concerned. Crap. Was it that obvious that she was not handling this well?

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just…this is gonna hurt.”

Sienna tried to steel her face, not wanting Luke to see how uneasy she was. But was it the injury? Or was it him? She was by no means inexperienced when it came to men, but something about his pale green eyes and left-side dimple had her practically worshipping him in her mind, like some kind of giddy schoolgirl. No. That was ridiculous. It was definitely the injury. Sienna hated blood.

One more calming breath and Sienna grasped the shard of glass and slowly pulled it from Luke’s flesh, careful to avoid making contact with his skin or looking him directly in the eye. She knew it had to hurt – like a bitch – but Luke didn’t make a sound, aside from a sharp intake of breath when the glass finally dislodged itself from his skin. She had a stack of gauze pads at the ready for when the blood came, and pressed them firmly against the wound as she prepared to disinfect the area. Luckily, the large shard appeared to be the only foreign material in this wound, and she had it bandaged in just a few minutes – all without making direct eye or physical contact with Luke.

But then it came time to address his left hand. Sienna grabbed a pair of pointed tweezers, a trashcan, and a small flashlight. She took a seat on the edge of the bathtub – right at eye-level with Luke, who was watching her with an admiring kind of curiosity.

She tentatively reached for his injured hand, needing to bring it closer to her so she could properly examine it. The instant her skin made contact with his, the electric shock was back, running from her toes to her earlobes and back again, but this time she didn’t let go. She simply sat there, staring at their hands together, allowing this foreign and admittedly pleasurable feeling to course through her.

When she finally regained enough of her wits to realize she was in this bathroom with another human being, she reluctantly brought her eyes to meet Luke’s. The utterly stunned look on his face seemed to indicate that this time, he had felt something, too.

“Now I understand why you dropped me.”

Big thanks to @loudlysilent for inviting me to partake in FlashFictionWednesdays. If you’d love to get involved, just write a piece of fiction 600 words or less & share it with us on the first Wednesday of every month with the hashtag #FlashFicWed!

I’ve never heard of flash fiction. Not until this week when the remarkable @loudlysilent nominated me to write some. Would you believe I’ve never, EVER written fiction? I mean, I guess I started something once but I wrote like a page & then scrapped it. So this is so VERY far outside my comfort zone right now. But. Life doesn’t really care if you’re comfortable, now, does it? Neither does @loudlysilent, apparently.

So, don’t be too harsh, but please feel free to provide constructive criticism. This is the first scene from a story I’ve had in my head for a while. It’s not terribly eventful, but hopefully it’s compelling enough for a first try 🙂

The Very Beginning

Sienna didn’t want to be here. She wasn’t interested in these people or this party. She wedged herself into the far corner of the oversized sectional, trying to separate herself from the rest of the drunken idiots. At least it was a comfortable couch, she guessed.

Maddie never mentioned how, for a group of tattoo-covered, body-modded, hardcore twenty-somethings, her friends were unbelievably exclusionary. You’d think people who are constantly judged by society would be more accepting of new people. It’s not even like Sienna was so straight-laced that she couldn’t relate to them. She had bubblegum pink hair, after all. And a handful of tattoos – none of which anybody ever appreciated the way she did. She listened to every kind of music and was always open to meeting new people. Just not people who had no interest in meeting her. She wanted to leave, but she had promised Maddie she’d stay for a few drinks. So she did.

She was in the kitchen, mixing her third or fourth vodka & Redbull when she heard the crash, which made her spill the last of her vodka on the floor. Goddamn it. She scrambled into the living room to see a couple of the aforementioned drunken idiots laying on the floor amidst the shattered glass and bent frame of what used to be Maddie’s coffee table. Oh, and then there was the blood. Great.

It didn’t take long for Maddie to start in. She was usually pretty level-headed, but the pool of blood on her hardwood floors clearly sent her over the edge.

“What the FUCK were you two doing? This isn’t the fucking UFC championship! Go get a trash bag and some towels and help me clean this up!”

“Aw, come on Mads, we’re sorry. I was just trying to show Luke, here, some of my mad wrestling skills. I’ll pay you back for the table, I promise,” the dark-haired guy with the gigantic ear gauges and Sailor Jerry sleeve gave Maddie the most obvious puppy-dog eyes and pouted, to which she only responded with a giggle and a nod. Gross.

This guy thought he was so smooth, and it was clear he had Maddie wrapped around his finger. He sauntered into the kitchen with a shit-eating grin on his face to get a trash bag, like Maddie asked. As he passed Sienna, he winked at her & said,

“My buddy in there seems to be bleeding. You sober enough to play nurse, pinkie?”

Sienna shuddered at the nickname and rolled her eyes at Sailor Jerry in complete disgust before making her way into the living room to check on her patient. She assumed she was the most sober person in the room, and as such, best equipped to tend to the poor bastard with a shard of glass protruding from his bicep.

“Hey, dumbass. Can you stand up? There’s a first aid kit in the upstairs bathroom,” Sienna stands above him with her arms crossed, trying to look as uninterested as possible. In reality, the confident yet genuine smile he gives her makes her breath catch.

“How about you just call me Luke, instead of dumbass? Can you give me a hand?”

“Sienna. Come on, let’s get you upstairs.” she reached out her hand to help him up, but gasped and let go as soon as he touched her, sending Luke tumbling gracelessly back into the pile of broken glass. What WAS that?

#introductions

Hi! I'm Christa & I'm obsessed with pretty much everything. I love learning about new things & geeking out over life. I dream of vampires & unicorns. I have a storm trooper tattoo and a reading list that will last me the rest of my life. Also, I can't stop buying makeup. Let's be friends!